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Ireland Week 2: Politics during the week, drinking on the weekends

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We do not remember being this busy the last time we brought students to Ireland, but we decided one of the reasons for this is that the students are really awesome. (Some of the best students I have ever had.) This group is always up for an adventure, to try new things and create new experiences. It's cliche to say that attitude matters, but it is definitely true when traveling. These students make us want to give them more. And we are trying to deliver! On the weekends I am staying busy making sure that not a single second here is wasted. Ireland sometimes feels like beer and booze tourism, but maybe that is because I was really excited about these parts. For example, there is always an obligatory trip to the Guinness Brewery when here. Definitely a tourist spot with more Americans than should fit into a single place - it's like a Disneyland for stout drinkers, and designed to convert you even if you don't like them. The beer is great here, so the pours of Guinness make th...
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Ireland Days 2 & 3

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As happy as we were to arrive in Dublin and have our first pints, we looked forward to the students arriving and getting started on our classes. We have an excellent group of students this year, and as they arrived they immediately proved their adaptability, curiosity, and sense of adventure. I don't think the students realize how much they can impact their experience based on their attitudes, and the first two days have shown that they are going to have a really great time here. The highlight of the day the students arrived was the tour of Dublin provided by an expert in Irish history who has written several books on the Irish Revolution. We told him that we wanted a very political tour, and he did not disappoint. In typical Irish fashion he was funny, opinionated, and loved our American students. The biggest surprise and laugh from the students was his bluntness: "I know American politics well. Republicans are the right cheek, and Democrats are the left cheek, both parts of ...
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Ireland 2023 Day 1

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I am in Ireland again for another study abroad trip with my students. Darci (my co-leader, source of emotional support, source of emotional abuse) is joining me again with her partner Peyton. We assign our students to do a travel blog, and Darci makes me do one too. I will be posting as much as I can, hopefully with some stories that give a taste of the experience. Here it goes… Departure : Amy drove me to the La Crosse airport at 4:45. At gate at 4:48. (It’s hard to overstate how much I love small town airports.) No photos or stories of this time because neither of us were happy to be up. Great view of Westby WI out of the window Flight: I watched the movie M3GAN on the flight to Dublin. Not great, and less robot murdering than I had hoped. The woman next to me watched it on my screen the whole time. I felt a little bad that I fast forwarded most parts with dialogue (I’m not a fan of character development), but the woman didn’t seem to mind. I was using headphones, so maybe s...
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Dublin Days 10 & 11

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I have to admit that I was probably looking forward to days 10 & 11 more than anyone else. These are the days for the Irish government guest lecturer and tours. I am teaching a political theory course to the students here, and we are focusing on political ideology, nationalism, democracy, and the relationship between church and state. Studying these things in the Irish context provides a rich backdrop and fascinating examples. We have already had the benefit of several political conversations through our experiences so far, and these two days were an opportunity to bring many of these discussions into focus. Day 10 features a lecture on Irish political history by a member of the Dublin city council, who also has a Master's degree in political science and history. This unique opportunity is made even more outstanding because he invites us to Dublin City Hall, where we are given the lecture in the legislative chamber of Dublin city government. On our way we even meet the forme...
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